Easy-to-transport sack

ABSTRACT

An easy-to-transport sack includes a sack body and a fork-inserting unit. The sack body defines a storing space therein, and has a bottom wall that confines a bottom side of the storing space and that has two opposite sides. The fork-inserting unit is disposed outwardly of the storing space, is made of a fabric material, is secured to the bottom wall of the sack body, and is formed with a pair of elongated parallel fork passages that extend between the opposite sides of the bottom wall and that are adapted to receive prongs of a fork of a forklift truck.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a sack, more particularly to a sack that isconvenient to transport.

2. Description of the Related Art

Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional sack 1 is shown to comprise a sackbody 11, and a plurality of loop members 12 attached to a top peripheryof the sack body 11. The sack body 11 has a bottom wall 111, and aperipheral wall 112 that extends upwardly from a periphery of the bottomwall 111 and that cooperates with the bottom wall 111 to define areceiving space 113 for receiving solid materials.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, after a plurality of sacks 1 are filled,they are loaded into a container 40 and delivered to a predetermineddestination. To facilitate moving of the sacks 1 into the container 40,pallets 2 are first placed at the bottom of each sack 1, followed byfilling of the materials into each sack 1, after which a forklift truck(only the fork 31 is shown in FIG. 2) is used to transport each pallet 2into the container 40. FIG. 3 shows the sacks 1 with the respectivepallets 2 stacked in the container 40.

Since the pallets 2 are required to facilitate transport of theconventional sacks 1 when the latter are filled, additional costs forthe pallets 2 are incurred. It is estimated that at least 20 to 30pallets 2 are needed in each container 40. When the container 40 reachesits intended destination, the sacks 1 with the respective pallets 2 areunloaded through the use of the forklift truck such that the pallets 2are not returned along with the container 40 for repeated use, therebyfurther increasing the transport costs.

It should be noted that since the pallets 2 are generally made of woodmaterials, which are ideal for breeding germs, some developed countriesprohibit the use of wood pallets 2, unless the wood materials aredisinfected first. This process is not only troublesome but furtherincreases the transport costs as well.

Another method of moving the conventional sacks 1 into the container 40is by engaging the fork 31 of the forklift truck with the loop members12 of the sacks 1. However, when the filled sacks 1 are to be piled on atop layer, a substantial moving space in the container 40 has to beprepared beforehand such that the height of each filled sack 1 has to becontrolled in order to maintain an appropriate distance between theuppermost layer of the sacks 1 and an inner top surface of the container40. This method diminishes the loading quantity of the conventionalsacks 1 in the container 40 so that the transport costs are similarlyincreased.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a sack thatis convenient to transport, that can increase loading quantity in acontainer, and that can effectively minimize transport costs.

According to the present invention, an easy-to-transport sack comprisesa sack body and a fork-inserting unit. The sack body defines a storingspace therein, and has a bottom wall that confines a bottom side of thestoring space and that has two opposite sides. The fork-inserting unitis made of a fabric material, is disposed outwardly of the storingspace, is secured to the bottom wall of the sack body, and is formedwith a pair of elongated parallel fork passages that extend between theopposite sides of the bottom wall and that are adapted to receive prongsof a fork of a forklift truck.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent in the following detailed description of the preferredembodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional sack;

FIG. 2 illustrates the conventional sack in a state of beingtransported;

FIG. 3 illustrates the conventional sacks when stacked in a container;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the first preferred embodimentof a sack according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the first preferred embodiment in anassembled state;

FIG. 6 illustrates the sack of the present invention being transportedby a forklift truck;

FIG. 7 illustrates the sacks of the present invention when stacked in acontainer; and

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the second preferred embodiment of asack according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Before the present invention is described in greater detail, it shouldbe noted that like elements are denoted by the same reference numeralsthroughout the disclosure.

Referring to FIGS. 4 to 7, the first preferred embodiment of a sack 100according to the present invention is shown to comprise a sack body 5and a fork-inserting unit 9.

The sack body 5 has a bottom wall 51, a peripheral wall 52 extendingupwardly from a periphery of the bottom wall 51, a top wall 54 connectedto a top periphery of the peripheral wall 52, and a plurality of loopmembers 6 secured to the top wall 54 in a conventional manner. Thebottom wall 51, the peripheral wall 52 and the top wall 54 cooperate todefine a storing space 53 for receiving filling materials. The bottomwall 51 includes two opposite sides 511, 512 (see FIG. 5) spaced apartin a longitudinal direction. The peripheral wall 52 includes twoopposite vertical wall portions 521 extending upwardly from the sides511, 512 of the bottom wall 51. The top wall 54 is formed with an inletport 541 that is in fluid communication with the storing space 53 andthat extends upwardly and outwardly relative to the storing space 53. Afastening unit is used for closing the inlet port 541 of the top wall54. In this embodiment, the fastening unit is a rope 8.

After the filling materials (not shown) are poured into the storingspace 53 through the inlet port 541, the inlet port 541 is tied andclosed by the rope 8 so as to prevent the materials from spilling out ofthe storing space 53.

It should be noted that the sacks currently available in the market havedifferent designs and shapes so as to suit different purposes andfilling materials. For example, when the sack is to be filled with smallparticles, the sack used is one with the inlet port 541 to prevent thematerials from spilling off during transport. When the filling materialsare large particles, the sack with no top wall 54 is chosen since it ismore stable to transport the large particles. Another design of the sackhas an outlet port provided on the bottom wall 51 of the sack. Theoutlet port is closed prior to filling the materials into the sack, andis opened for discharging the materials from the sack.

In this embodiment, a basic design of the sack is illustrated. Inpractice, the sack is not limited to the disclosed preferred embodiment.

The fork-inserting unit 9 is made of a fabric material, is secured tothe bottom wall 51 of the sack body 5 by stitching, and is formed with apair of elongated parallel fork passages 93 that extend between theopposite sides 511, 512 of the bottom wall 51 and that are adapted toreceive prongs of a fork 41 of a forklift truck 4 (see FIG. 6). Thefork-inserting unit 9 includes a pair of parallel first sheets 92 and apair of parallel second sheets 91. Each of the first and second sheets92, 91 has a thickness that is at least three times the thickness of thesack body 5.

In this embodiment, each of the second sheets 91 has a length longerthan that of the bottom wall 51 of the sack body 5. Each of the secondsheets 91 is secured to the bottom wall 51, and has an intermediateportion 911 sewn to the bottom wall 51, and two fixed ends 912 thatextend respectively from two opposite ends of the intermediate portion911, that are folded upwardly relative to the bottom wall 51, and thatare sewn respectively to the vertical wall portions 521 of theperipheral wall 52 of the sack body 5, as best shown in FIG. 5.

Each of the first sheets 92, in this embodiment, has a length longerthan that of the bottom wall 51 of the sack body 5, and has anintermediate portion 921 with two longitudinal sides 9211 sewn to theintermediate portion 911 of a corresponding one of the second sheets 91so as to define therebetween one of the fork passages 93 for extensionof a respective prong of the fork 41 of the forklift truck 4therethrough, and two free ends 922 that extend outwardly andrespectively from two opposite ends of the intermediate portion 921 andthat extend out of the opposite sides 521, 522 of the bottom wall 51 soas to facilitate insertion of the prongs of the fork 41 of the forklifttruck 4 into the fork passages 93, as best illustrated in FIG. 6.

A detailed description of the transporting method for the sack 100 willnow be described with further reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

When filling and packing of the sacks 100 are completed, each sack 100is transported into the container 40 by inserting directly andrespectively the prongs of the fork 41 of the forklift truck 4 into thefork passages 93 in the respective sack 100, after which the forklifttruck 4 is operated to raise the fork 41 so as to lift and transport thesack 100 into the container 40.

It should be noted that prior to lifting of the sack 100 by the fork 41of the forklift truck 4, due to cooperation of the fixed ends 912 of thesecond sheets 91, which extend upwardly relative to the bottom wall 51of the sack body 5, and the free ends 922 of the first sheets 92, whichextend freely out of the bottom wall 51 of the sack body 5, to formopenings of the fork passages 93, the prongs of the fork 41 can beguided into the fork passages 93. Furthermore, the fixed ends 912 of thesecond sheets 91 are sewn to the peripheral wall 52 of the sack body 5so as to reinforce the peripheral wall 52 and protect the same frombeing punctured by the fork 41 of the forklift truck 4. On the otherhand, the free ends 922 of the first sheets 92 are designed in such away that they sag due to gravity to enlarge the openings of the forkpassages 93 so that the prongs of the fork 41 of the forklift truck 4can be inserted easily into the fork passages 93.

When transporting of the filled sacks 100 is desired, the operator ofthe forklift truck 4 operates downward or upward movement of the fork 41until a suitable position is reached. Then, the operator drives forwardmovement of the truck 4 to insert the prongs of the fork 41 into thefork passages 93 of a respective sack 100, after which the fork 41 isoperated to raise the sack 100. When the truck 4 reaches the container40, and the fork 41 is adjusted to a suitable height, the truck 4 ismoved rearward so as to withdraw the fork 41 from the fork passages 93in the sack 100. The sack 100, through its own weight, stabilizes itselfin the container 40. Repeating the aforementioned steps would result instacking of a plurality of the sacks 100 in the container 40, as bestillustrated in FIG. 7.

Therefore, the sack 100 of the present invention not only can be easilytransported into the container 40, but also dispenses with the need forpallets 2, which are required when transporting the aforementionedconventional sack 1. Furthermore, the fork 41 of the forklift truck 4 isnot required to engage the loop members 6 on the sack body 5 whentransporting the sack 100 into the container 40 so that there is no needto maintain a space between an uppermost layer of the sacks 100 of thepresent invention and the inner top face of the container 40.

Referring to FIG. 8, the second preferred embodiment of the sack 100according to the present invention is shown to be substantially similarto the first preferred embodiment. However, in this embodiment, thefork-inserting unit 9 includes only a pair of parallel sheets 92, eachof which is made of a fabric material and is secured to and cooperateswith the bottom wall 51 to define an elongate fork passage 93 thatextends between the opposite sides 511, 512 of the bottom wall 51 andthat is adapted to receive a corresponding one of the prongs of the fork41 of a forklift truck 4 (see FIG. 6). Each sheet 92 has an intermediateportion 921 with two longitudinal sides 9211 sewn to the bottom wall 51of the sack body 5, and two free ends 922 that extend outwardly andrespectively from two opposite ends of the intermediate portion 921 andthat extend out of the opposite sides 521, 522 of the bottom wall 51 soas to facilitate insertion of a corresponding one of the prongs of thefork 41 of the forklift truck 4 into the corresponding fork passage 93.

From the aforementioned description of the preferred embodiments of thesack 100 of the present invention, it is apparent that due to thepresence of the fork-inserting unit 9 on the bottom wall 51 of the sackbody 5, the pallets 2 are dispensed herewith, thereby reducing transportcosts. Furthermore, through the use of the forklift truck 4, the sacks100 of the present invention can be conveniently transported into thecontainer 40. Moreover, the loading quantity in the container 40 isincreased because there is no need to maintain a space between anuppermost layer of the sacks 100 and the inner top face of the container40.

While the present invention has been described in connection with whatis considered the most practical and preferred embodiments, it isunderstood that this invention is not limited to the disclosedembodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements includedwithin the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as toencompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.

1. An easy-to-transport sack comprising: a sack body defining a storingspace therein and having a bottom wall that confines a bottom side ofsaid storing space and that has two opposite sides; and a fork-insertingunit disposed outwardly of said storing space, made of a fabricmaterial, secured to said bottom wall of said sack body, and formed witha pair of elongated parallel fork passages that extend between saidopposite sides of said bottom wall and that are adapted to receiveprongs of a fork of a forklift truck.
 2. The easy-to-transport sack asclaimed in claim 1, wherein said fork-inserting unit includes a pair ofparallel first sheets and a pair of parallel second sheets, said secondsheets being sewn to said bottom wall, said first sheets being alignedwith and being secured to said second sheets, respectively, andcooperating with said second sheets to define said fork passages.
 3. Theeasy-to-transport sack as claimed in claim 2, wherein said sack bodyfurther has a peripheral wall including two opposite vertical wallportions, each of said second sheets having an intermediate portion sewnto said bottom wall, and two fixed ends extending respectively from twoopposite ends of said intermediate portion, and folded upwardly relativeto said bottom wall, and connected respectively to said vertical wallportions of said peripheral wall of said sack body.
 4. Theeasy-to-transport sack as claimed in claim 3, wherein each of said firstsheets has an intermediate portion with two longitudinal sides sewn tosaid intermediate portion of the respective one of said second sheets,and two free ends that extend outwardly and respectively from twoopposite ends of said intermediate portion of said first sheet and thatextend out of said opposite sides of said bottom wall so as tofacilitate insertion of the prongs of the fork of the forklift truckinto said fork passages.
 5. The easy-to-transport sack as claimed inclaim 2, wherein each of said first and second sheets has a thicknessthat is at least three times the thickness of said sack body.
 6. Theeasy-to-transport sack as claimed in claim 0.3, further comprising aplurality of loop members secured to a top periphery of said peripheralwall of said sack body.
 7. The easy-to-transport sack as claimed inclaim 3, further comprising a top wall extending from a top periphery ofsaid peripheral wall of said sack body and formed with an inlet port. 8.The easy-to-transport sack as claimed in claim 7, further comprising afastening unit for closing said inlet port of said top wall.
 9. Aneasy-to-transport sack comprising: a sack body defining a storing spacetherein and having a bottom wall that confines a bottom side of saidstoring space and that has two opposite sides; and a fork-inserting unitdisposed outwardly of said storing space, and including a pair ofparallel sheets, each of which is made of a fabric material, and issecured to and cooperates with said bottom wall to define an elongatedfork passage that extends between said opposite sides of said bottomwall and that is adapted to receive a prong of a fork of a forklifttruck.
 10. The easy-to-transport sack as claimed in claim 9, whereineach of said parallel sheets has an intermediate portion with twolongitudinal sides sewn to said bottom wall, and two free ends thatextend outwardly and respectively from two opposite ends of saidintermediate portion and that extend out of said opposite sides of saidbottom wall.
 11. The easy-to-transport sack as claimed in claim 9,wherein each of said parallel sheets has a thickness that is at leastthree times the thickness of said sack body.
 12. The easy-to-transportsack as claimed in claim 9, wherein said sack body further has aperipheral wall extending from said bottom wall and having a topperiphery with a plurality of loop members secured thereto.
 13. Theeasy-to-transport sack as claimed in claim 9, wherein said sack bodyfurther has a peripheral wall extending from said bottomwall, and a topwall extending from a top periphery of said peripheral wall and formedwith an inlet port.
 14. The easy-to-transport sack as claimed in claim13, further comprising a fastening unit for closing said inlet port ofsaid top wall.